James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Duke of Hamilton
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Portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck, 1640
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| Master of the Horse | |
| In office 1628–1644 |
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| Monarch | Charles I |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Holland |
| Succeeded by | Prince Rupert of the Rhine |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 June 1606 Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Died | 9 March 1649 (aged 42) Old Palace Yard, Palace of Westminster, London, England |
| Spouse | Lady Mary Feilding |
| Children | Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton Susannah Kennedy, Countess of Cassillis Four children who died in infancy |
| Parents | James, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton Lady Ann Cunningham |
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (born June 19, 1606 – died March 9, 1649) was an important Scottish nobleman. He was a powerful leader in politics and the military. He lived during the Thirty Years' War and the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. From March 1625 until April 1643, he was known as the 3rd Marquess of Hamilton. He was also a Knight of the Garter (KG) and a member of the Privy Council of England (PC).
Contents
Early Life and Family
James was born in 1606 at Hamilton Palace in Lanarkshire, Scotland. His father was James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton. His mother was Lady Ann Cunningham. In 1609, after his great-uncle James, Earl of Arran, passed away, young James was given the title Earl of Arran.
Next in Line for the Scottish Throne
James was related to Princess Mary, who was the daughter of James II of Scotland. After Prince Henry Frederick died in 1612, James became third in line to the throne of Scotland. Only Charles, Duke of Rothesay, and his sister Elizabeth, were ahead of him.
School Days
King James VI visited Scotland in 1617. He was very impressed by James's father, the 2nd Marquess of Hamilton. The King invited the Marquess to his court in London. In August 1617, the Marquess arrived in London with his eleven-year-old son, Lord Arran.
Even though James had a private teacher, James Bale, he didn't get much formal schooling at court. To fix this, he was sent to Exeter College, Oxford. He officially joined the college on December 14, 1621.
Collecting Art
James loved art from a young age. He collected many paintings from Venice, Italy. His art agent, Viscount Basil Feilding, helped him. A list of his art collection was made around 1642-1643. It had 600 items, and half of them were Venetian paintings. Many of these paintings are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.
His Marriage
James's father had been working with George, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Buckingham was a powerful man at court. He wanted to make his family stronger by marrying them into rich families. Buckingham suggested that Lord Arran marry his niece, Mary. She was the daughter of William, Viscount Feilding.
Lord Hamilton wasn't sure about Buckingham's family background. But he was impressed by Buckingham's influence with the king. So, he agreed to the marriage. On June 16, 1622, fifteen-year-old Arran married nine-year-old Mary Feilding. The king was there for the wedding. James was not asked what he thought, and he later felt very unhappy about it.
Becoming the Marquess of Hamilton
On March 2, 1625, James's father, the 2nd Marquess, died suddenly. He was only thirty-six. People thought he died of a fever, but some suspected he was poisoned. King James died three weeks later.
Young Lord Arran then became the 3rd Marquess of Hamilton. He received all his father's titles. He also got the same yearly payment of £2,500 from the court. At the coronation of King Charles I, Lord Hamilton carried the Sword of State at Westminster Abbey.
In 1628, Lord Hamilton received many important roles. He became a Gentleman of the Bedchamber and a Knight of the Garter. He was also made a privy counsellor in both England and Scotland. In the same year, he became Master of the Horse. He held this job until 1644. He also represented the King of Bohemia at the baptism of Prince Charles.
Leading an Army in Germany
In 1631, Hamilton took an army to Germany to help Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years' War. He was allowed to gather 6,000 men from England and another 6,000 from Scotland. Historians have debated how many men actually went. We now know that 8,000 men first landed in Germany. Other groups, meant for Hamilton, joined other commanders.
Hamilton had no military training. So, Major General Alexander Leslie became his teacher. Other Scottish officers also helped him. Hamilton's army was mostly Scottish. It included experienced Scottish commanders.
Hamilton's forces did better than many people realize. They were not well-equipped and lost many men to illness early on. But those who survived fought bravely. They guarded the Oder river while Gustavus Adolphus fought at the Battle of Breitenfeld. Later, Hamilton's army joined with another Swedish army. Together, they attacked Magdeburg.
After that, the two armies separated. Hamilton was never allowed to unite all his soldiers into one group. Many of his groups continued to fight in other parts of the Thirty Years' War. Hamilton had a serious disagreement with the Swedish king. So, he and many of his officers were let go from service on October 22, 1632. He returned to Britain with some Scottish officers. Many other soldiers from Hamilton's army stayed and continued to serve Sweden.
Hamilton and Scotland's Troubles
When he returned to Great Britain, Hamilton became King Charles I's main advisor for Scottish matters. In May 1638, a revolt started against a new prayer book. Hamilton was sent to Scotland to calm things down. He thought the Covenanters (those who opposed the prayer book) were "possessed by the devil." He seemed easily scared by their leaders.
On July 27, 1638, King Charles sent Hamilton back to Scotland. He had new ideas for holding an assembly and a parliament. Bishops would stay, but they would answer to future assemblies. After some arguments, Hamilton went back to Charles again.
He was sent back to Edinburgh on September 17, 1638. He brought a cancellation of the prayer book and a new agreement. On November 21, 1638, Lord Hamilton led the first meeting of the assembly in Glasgow Cathedral. But he ended it on November 28, 1638. This was because the assembly said bishops had to answer to them. The assembly kept meeting anyway. Hamilton returned to England to explain his failure. The Covenanters were now in charge.
War was now certain. Hamilton was chosen to lead an attack on the Forth to threaten the Covenanters from behind. But he faced his former military teachers, Alexander Leslie and Alexander Hamilton. When he arrived in the Forth on May 1, 1639, he realized the Royalists had underestimated their opponents.
Even his own mother, Anne, Dowager Marchioness of Hamilton, was against him. She was a colonel in the Covenanter army. She reportedly threatened to shoot her son if he landed his troops in Scotland. One person wrote that she "goeth in armour and with a pistoll by her side readie charged, and wishes him there, saying shee would burie the bullets in his bowells."
Whatever the reason, the plan to land troops failed. Hamilton was called back in June. On July 8, 1639, after a bad welcome in Edinburgh, he gave up his role. He supported calling the Short Parliament. But he strongly opposed The 1st Earl of Strafford, who he saw as an enemy of the Scots. He even helped in Strafford's downfall.
Hamilton then supported the Parliament. He wanted Scotland and England to be allies. In February 1641, he convinced Charles to let some Parliament leaders join his council. After Strafford died in May 1641, Hamilton faced a new rival, The 5th Earl of Montrose. Montrose disliked Hamilton and his plans.
On August 10, 1641, Hamilton went with Charles on his last visit to Scotland. Hamilton wanted the king to join forces with Archibald Campbell, 8th Earl of Argyll. The king would accept Presbyterianism and get help from the Scots against the English Parliament. When this failed, Hamilton left Charles and sided with Argyll.
Because of this, Lord Ker challenged Hamilton to a duel. Hamilton told the king, and Ker later apologized. Montrose wrote to Charles, saying he could prove Hamilton was a traitor. The king himself said Hamilton was "very active in his own preservation."
Soon after, a plan to capture Argyll, Hamilton, and his brother William Hamilton, Earl of Lanark, was found out. This was called "The Incident." On October 12, 1641, they fled from Edinburgh. Hamilton returned later and still had Charles's trust. He went back to London with the king. In July 1642, Hamilton went to Scotland to try and stop the Scots from joining the coming English Civil War. This caused a break between him and Argyll.
Becoming Duke of Hamilton and His Execution
On April 12, 1643, Hamilton received even higher titles. At Oxford, King Charles made him Duke of Hamilton. He also became Marquess of Clydesdale, Earl of Cambridge, and Baron of Aven and Innerdale. He also got the Earldom of Arran back.
In February 1643, Scotland offered to help make peace between Charles and Parliament. Hamilton tried to cause trouble for the 1st Earl of Loudoun, who was leading the peace talks. Hamilton's plan failed. He couldn't stop a meeting of the Scottish estates (like a parliament) that met without the king's permission. His supporters were a minority.
Finally, Hamilton and Lanark had to leave Scotland because they refused to take the Covenant. They arrived in Oxford on December 16, 1643. The Duke of Hamilton's actions had finally made Charles angry. He was put in prison in a baker's house. He had only two servants and couldn't leave. In January 1644, he was sent to Pendennis Castle. In 1645, he was moved to St Michael's Mount. He was freed by Lord Fairfax's troops on April 23, 1646.
In 1646, Charles gave the Duke the job of Keeper of Holyroodhouse.
Later, he was very active in talks between the Scots and Charles at Newcastle. These talks didn't work. In 1648, after the army captured Charles, Hamilton gained some power in the Parliament of Scotland. He led a large army into England to support the king on July 8, 1648.
He was not a good military leader. John Lambert stopped him for a while. Even though Hamilton had 24,000 men and the enemy had only 9,000, he let his troops spread out. They were defeated by Oliver Cromwell over three days, from August 17-19, 1648, at the Battle of Preston. Hamilton himself was captured on August 25. He was put on trial on February 6, 1649. He was sentenced to death on March 6 and executed by decapitation (beheading) on March 9.
What People Thought of Him
During his life, Hamilton was often suspected of betraying the king. Some thought he wanted the Scottish Crown for himself. This idea came up as early as 1631. But Charles trusted him and even let him share his room. However, the suspicion always stayed with him. His tricky personality and poor handling of the king's affairs in Scotland made the accusations seem true.
But there doesn't seem to be any real proof of betrayal. His life can be explained by his focus on himself. People often say Hamilton didn't care about the big issues. He was neither loyal nor patriotic. He only wanted peace and compromise to avoid losing things himself. It has been said that "He was devoid of intellectual or moral strength, and was therefore easily brought to fancy all future tasks easy and all present obstacles insuperable."
Children and Who Came Next
James and his wife Mary Feilding had six children. Four of them died when they were very young.
- Henrietta Mary (1631–1632)
- Anne (1632–1716), who later became Duchess of Hamilton in her own right.
- Susannah (1633–1694), who married The 7th Earl of Cassilis in 1668.
- Charles, Earl of Arran (born around 1630 – died around April 30, 1640, buried in Westminster Abbey)
- James (1635–1639)
- William (1636–1638)
After his three sons died, the title of Duke passed to his brother, The 1st Earl of Lanark. When his brother died in 1651, the Scottish titles went to James's oldest daughter, Anne. She married William, Earl of Selkirk, who was made Duke of Hamilton for life.
